


I Got First Dibs on You

by BloodyRedApples



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emma Swan is a player, F/M, Regina is a nerd, Trans Emma Swan, Trans Male Character, and so is Henry, swanqueen end game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26300395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyRedApples/pseuds/BloodyRedApples
Summary: A young boy out of the blue tells Regina that he has first dibs on her. A line he learned from his older brother Emmett.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 60





	I Got First Dibs on You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever. I have no Beta, all mistakes are mine alone.
> 
> I welcome constructive criticisms, please don't be harsh.

Regina Mills has never been an anxious person, she is more of a exudes confidence from a mile away kind of girl; but today is different. She is so far out of element teaching a bunch of teenagers advance chemistry and biology. A far cry from the solitude of her laboratory. She could do her thesis presentation to a bunch of old croons proving all their theories wrong in her sleep but explaining the intricacies of science to high school students is a nightmare for her. High school was not a great point in her 25 years of life and going back to that kind of atmosphere is not doing any good for her. It was a necessary evil though as it was the only way that Doctor White was going to take her as an advisee and can finally finish her second doctorate, this time in the field of Chemistry. A feat that can finally appease her overbearing mother.

To her surprise, everything was going great. It seems like this generation of high schoolers is different to that of her youth. Her students seem receptive to her introduction and are genuinely interested about the upcoming lessons and experiments. She gave them for now an exam to check their current level in Chemistry and Biology. While they were doing that, she decided to go out of the classroom for a bit. She noticed a little boy of 7 or 8 sitting on the floor by the door, quietly reading what looks like a Batman comic.

She decided to talk to the child as it is uncommon to see someone so young at a high school. Squatting down, not an easy feat on her four inch stilettos and pencil skirt, she asked the little boy what he was doing there and whether he was lost. He looked up from his comic and looked at her with startled forest green eyes and then he smiled. This kid will grow up to be a heartbreaker one day Regina thought. He said he was waiting for his brother who has a class inside, so he asked him who he is. Apparently, his brother was his youngest student, Henry Swan, a curious young man who asked majority of the questions during her introduction. She liked him instantly as she was able to relate to him skipping a grade during high school.

Regina asked the young boy what his name was and learned it was Neal. She was about to introduce herself to when he muttered his next words and made her blush. “I got first dibs on you!” Then he proceeded to tell her that was she really pretty and that his brother told him that if he sees a girl he likes but his friend has already said he likes that girl, he can’t tell her she’s pretty and be friends with her anymore. He takes a gulp of air and hurriedly adds “So I have to stake my claim before Emmett sees you. He always gets the pretty girls.”

Regina can’t help buy chuckle on the boys minute long monologue. “And who pray tell is Emmett? He sounds like a real gentleman.” she says with a bemused grin. Neal tells her that he is his eldest brother and that he is the one who teaches him how to act around girls since Henry only tells talks to him about villains and their back stories. Their conversation was cut short when one of her students opens the door and tells her they were all done with the exam.

She leaves the amusing boy and went inside to continues with the lesson. The rest of the hour was uneventful after that. Before long the time was up and she was telling them about their homework and that she was all seeing them on Wednesday. She asks Henry to stay for a while though and to call his brother outside. Henry was surprised at her request but did what he was told nonetheless. When both boys were standing in front of her desk, she asks them if Neal waiting by the door is a onetime thing. Regina could see that the older Swan change his stance to a defensive one when he said that Neal would wait for him after every class so that they can go home together, they didn’t need a baby sitter since he was already 15.

She answered with a smile to appease the wary boy and said that it was admirable that they were so independent. She then suggested that Neal can stay in her office at the back of the classroom during the class so that it will be more comfortable for him. She gives her mobile number to Henry if their parents want to talk to her about the arrangement. He then nods, takes her number and says goodbye.

Later that night as she was revising her thesis as per her advisor’s notes, Regina receives a text from an unknown number thanking her for her consideration to both his younger brothers. She was intrigued why their brother texted her instead of their parents. They might just be too busy for their sons, she thought, not that she was being judgmental, she experienced the same from her parents after all. They only notice her when it was time for getting her grades. 

Meanwhile in the Swan household, the older brothers are surprised to an almost 180 degree change in Neal. The usually shy and quiet boy was taking a mile a second. He was talking about meeting the prettiest girl and tells Emmett that he already calls dibs on Regina. Emmett laughs out loud at that, then he thinks that he shouldn’t have said those to an impressionable young boy. He didn’t expect that he would absorb these things since he never really answers back that much. Then Neal tells him that Regina called Emmett a real gentleman and then asks him what it means. Emmett just chuckles and ruffles his brother’s hair. After Neal went to bed, Emmett asked Henry if Regina is really a 10 or just a 4 and Neal being Neal doesn’t know the difference. Because man, the only science teacher he knows was his 60 year old teacher in High School and she was definitely not a 4. Henry glares at him and gives him a minute long lecture about respecting and not objectifying women, and looks shouldn’t matter specially since Ms. Mills is a brilliant teacher. Properly chastised, Emmett replies with a meek “I do respect women, what’s wrong with admiring the female form?”

The next Wednesday, Regina found a very excited Neal waiting by the door to her office. It was still 30 minutes to the beginning of her class, she invites him inside and offers him some cookies and a juice box. They spent the next 30 minutes taking about superheroes and their families. Regina learned that the Swan boy’s parents were involved in a fatal car accident. Henry came in 15 minutes later and their stories went back to superheroes. When her other students began arriving at 4:00 pm, Regina and Henry went to the classroom and left Neal in the other room.

That was pretty much what happened in the next weeks. During this time, they would talk about stories of their siblings or would debate about the best superhero or villain. Sometimes Regina would work on her thesis and other times she would help them on their home works. From what could she piece together with the Henry and Neal’s stories, their parents had Emmett when they were really young, just sixteen years old. Their grandparents took care of him until he was 15 years old and took their family name until their parents got married when Henry was 7 and Neal was born, during which both Emmett and their mother changed their surnames to Swan. After their parents death 3 years ago, Emmett has been their sole guardian, and their aunt Ruby, their mother’s best friend, was their baby sitter during the times that Emmett was busy managing their family business. Regina also told them about her family. That she was the youngest of 4 siblings. Zelena, her oldest sister was in UK heading the expansion of their business abroad, then, August and Jefferson, her twin brothers, were currently starting up their own law firm. They told her how they loved to go camping and going for hikes, and she told them about her love for horse riding. The 2 orphans are burrowing their way into Regina’s heart, she’d definitely miss them when the school year ends.

It was a month and a half later when the school announced a Fair for all the advanced classes to be happening next week. Regina tasked all of her students to create experiments that would showcase any of the lessons they’ve done so far. She also encouraged them to invite their parents to demonstrate their improvement. Henry albeit ecstatic was hesitant to involve his older brother because of his predisposition to flirt with any beautiful woman he meets. Regina should remain safe from him. When Neal heard about this, he became very excited, finally he can introduce Regina to Emmett. That would show him, he’s always teasing him about Regina.

The moment Emmett arrived home that night, he was bombarded by his youngest brother’s demand for him to attend the fair. A very confused Emmett looked at Henry for explanation and he willingly obliged, but downplayed it somewhat as he really didn’t want him to attend. To his relief, his big brother already has a previous engagement. He was going for a weeklong work travel in Maine. Neal was saddened by the news, he was going to miss his brother. However. Emmett has already anticipated this and asked Aunt Ruby to comeback for that week. Neal felt a little better after that. He also told Henry that Graham can cover for him to the school fair, and will definitely take some videos for his experiment. The infatuated Neal then asked his brother to tell Graham that Regina is off limits. This earned him the usual hair ruffle from his big brother as he muttered “ I really shouldn’t have taught you about girls so early in the game.” He wondered again what this Regina looks like but was distracted by a message from the model he hooked up last night.

Life couldn’t get any better for Emmett, she could get any girl he wants, with just a flash of his lopsided grin and charming pick up lines. Well almost any girl. There was this one girl he (no, he was still a “she” back then) had a terrible crush on in high school. She was the younger sister of her best friend’s girlfriend. Gin from Storybrooke High. He never got her full name though, too afraid to ask her and be teased to death about it. He tried looking for Gin West in all of the social media platforms before but never found her.

That same night, Regina was having dinner with her best friend Chris, talking about Regina’s lack of love life. Ever since Daniel in college and the brief rump with Mallory, she has never been in any kind of relationship. She told him about her mini boyfriend and the story on how they met and the doctor found it adorable. He thinks that she should meet the older brother. Regina just laughed at his friend, it was refreshing to be able to talk to him again. They both got busy in past year that this is the first time their meeting personally. They first met during their first year in college, Chris taking his pre-med on Biology and Regina taking 2 majors in Chemistry and Biology. Christ tried to hit on Regina the moment he laid eyes on her but he reminded her too much of his brother August for him to have a chance. He took her rejection like a champ and they hit it off as friends. Regina was the perfect wingman. Any girl would want to get the guy who arrived with the most attractive girl in the room. And Chris was the perfect buffer for any unwanted attention for Regina.

Looks has never been a big thing in the academically proficient Mills family. Her great grandfather on her father’s side founded a school in Maine, the Mills Foundation College. Her mother was the current president of the school. Her grandfather is a renowned chemist is at the research end while his dad is managing the business end. Both men are heading their pharmaceutical company. Being part of a family who values education above all else, Regina never saw herself as attractive, let alone beautiful. This was true during high school since her mother never allowed her to dress in anything ostentatious or provocative. “Dressing in anything but simple will distract your audience from what you have to say. They will not listen to a clearly uneducated person” her mother always said. That all changed when she went to college and her roommate convinced her to dress up for the freshman party. There everybody’s attention was on her, and they listened to what she was saying. A refreshing feeling from the invisible girl she was in high school. Although not everybody ignored her. Emma White, Zelena’s annoying friend always disturbed her.

The day of the Fair arrived, Regina had a field day answering questions about her student’s progress. Her students were showing off their experiments to their parents, the faculty and the other students of the school, it was a great success, all of them were impressed. As she was doing her rounds that she met Graham, he was standing beside Henry’s work. He got tongue-tied when they were introduced. Neal smugly told him “ Told ya she was really pretty!” Sensing what’s about to happen, Henry averted Ms. Mills attention to stop Graham’s attempt to flirt by asking her a question about his experiment. This got them into a heavy discussion on the possible repercussions of using a different compound.

Regina walked around the auditorium again and had to breathe a sigh of relief when Chris walked in. Most of the menfolk had been asking her idiotic questions just to get her attention. Sensing her distress, Chris approached her immediately with a kiss on her cheek, that instantly dispersed the herd of dad around her. He wanted to meet Neal so Regina scanned the room to introduce the two. They got on pretty quickly, even Henry who was usually closed off to new people was speaking to him like an old friend by the time Regina had to do her rounds again. She was ambushed by Graham and asked her for a date, not noticing her discomfort. She was about to decline when Chris saved her again and approached her with a side hug. Graham excused himself after that not wanting to make a scene.

Immediately after the meeting Graham called Emmet to him not about Henry’s successful project but how incredibly hot his teacher is. This piqued Emmett’s interest even more and made him want to meet this intriguing teacher. Luckily for him Neal’s birthday is coming up. He can use this opportunity to finally get a first-hand look.

He began planning the moment his last meeting for the day concluded and ended until the plane was taxiing the runway. At which point he feels a bit pathetic. He’s never gone to so much lengths for a girl before, and he hasn’t even met her yet.

When he arrived home, Emmett immediately set his plan into motion asking Neal what he wanted for his birthday and if he wanted to celebrate it with his friends. He got excited at that and immediately started naming all of his friends, then, as if he discovered the secret to absolute happiness, asked his brother that he should definitely invite Regina. To which the older Swan readily agreed. Neal couldn’t wait for Friday to ask the teacher and convinced his brother to call her immediately so that she won’t make any plans. He dialed the teacher’s number without any fuss.

“Hello, Regina Mills speaking” came in a husky greeting from the other line.

Holy crap, that has got to be the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard thought Emmett. Clearing his throat he answered back.

“Hi Ms. Mills. This is Emmett Swan, Henry and Neal’s brother. I have a very excited boy here who wants to talk to you” he said then gave the phone to Neal.

And Neal began to animatedly invite Regina to his birthday party. When he gave Emmett his phone back he announced loudly that she agreed to come.

“Whoah there buddy, sounds like you got a date there” teased his brother. He didn’t give his brother any mind and set to talk to him about the plan for his party. Emmett had to endure the whole night listening to his brother whether he should have a Batman themed party or a Justice League one. Almost because he has never seen his brother this animated ever since their parents died. He is happy that his brother is finally moving on and coming out of his shell, even though he will have only a few hours of sleep. He needed to get up really early in the morning to prepare for the company’s quarterly meeting. Before going to sleep, he received a text message from his other brother saying that serves him for using Neal for his own good. 

Henry has always been perceptive to his surroundings, being able to connect seemingly unrelated dots. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that Graham has already told his brother about the encounter with Ms. Mills and knowing his brother, he will take it as a challenge. The three of them have stopped celebrating any of their birthdays ever since that faithful day. It was always their mother who planned their parties, personally baking their cakes and cooking the feast for their friends. Celebrating seems futile now since his mom and dad won’t be there anymore to spend it with them. A ping distracted him from his musings with a reply from his brother. Dunno what ur talkin bout, smarty pants. Go to sleep bud, I love you.

The day of the party came, the Swan household is a buzz with activity. Emmett has enlisted the help of Henry, Graham and a couple of his marketing team to help him decorate and prepare for the party. The first guests arrived at 3:00 pm and kept on coming non stop after that. Every time the bell rings, the birthday boy would make a mad dash to the door hoping that Regina is on the other side of the door. Finally at 3:16 pm, he opened the door to smiling Regina, in jeans and a black V-neck Batman shirt. Neal squealed in delight, grabbed her hand and dragged her through the whole house to the backyard where his party has already started. Regina saw Henry sitting by the corner watching the children play inside the bouncy Wayne mansion. Neal was called over by his friends and momentarily forgot about Regina. Instead of standing in the middle of the room doing nothing, she went over where to Henry was sitting and greeted the perpetually somber teenager. Slight startled, he squeaked high pitched, “Hi Ms. Mills”. She replied that he can call her Regina since they were outside school. They started talking about Mars One and what kind of flora and fauna should they be taking with them on the voyage, both heads went up when they heard the birthday boy laugh out loud. They both smiled at that.

“Thank you for being nice to him. Ever since our parents died, he kind of closed in on himself. He used to only talk to Aunt Ruby, Emmett and me. Now he is happier and playing with other kids, he has a set of friends!” said Henry out of the blue.

“To be frank, I’ve always known him to be this exuberant child so I don’t think I did anything Henry. But that is nice to hear, having a positive impact on someone. How about you, how are you?” answered back.

Before the teenager could answer, Neal grabbed her again and dragged her to the kitchen where his brother was currently talking to Graham. Emmett back facing them. Graham sees her first and greets her with a slight blush on his cheeks. Clearly, the still remembers the incident from three weeks ago. Emmett turns his back to his best friend ready to greet the infamous teacher but his throat went suddenly dry.

“Hi. Killer? Gin” was all he could utter with a second delay in each word.

“Don’t call me that, only my –“ answered Regina automatically.

“Only your family calls you that. I remember” Emmett cut in.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Regina inquired, apprehension clearly evident on her voice. She is unnerved that this complete stranger knows her.

“Shit, it’s me Emma… Emma White” said Emmett with a slightly hopeful tone. Wishing Regina still remembers him.

“Oh” was all Regina could answer. Then silence. Tension. Awkward, uncomfortable silence.

It was Graham’s loud laugh which broke the tension.

“You dib’s doesn’t count Neal! You’ve been beaten again by Emmett, he has dibs even before you were born” exclaimed his best friend.


End file.
